We had been anticipating our yearly summer trip to Montana for weeks. Everyday Finnley would ask me how many more days until Montana. So, when the morning came that we were supposed to go, we were ready and anxious. I called Delta that morning to see if we could get on an earlier flight, but they were all booked. Darn.
Mitch was working all day, so I was in charge of getting myself and three kids to JFK airport (an hour away). I gave myself plenty of time. I arrived at curbside over two hours before my flight left. I left my kids in the car while I hauled my luggage to the curb to check in. Something was wrong with my ticket (wasn't told what) so I needed to go inside to take care of it. I could see my car from the desk, so I locked the doors and headed in. To make a really long story short, I sat there for 45 minutes while the lady tried to fix whatever was wrong with my ticket. My bags were tagged, she had our boarding passes in her hand, but there was something else she was working on. I never knew what it was because she was only speaking spanish to her co-workers.
At this point, I needed to go park my car or I was going to miss my flight. I told the lady and she said she would watch my already tagged bags, and keep working on the problem. I jumped in my car, drove to the parking lot, loaded up my kids - Remmy in the Bjorn, Dieter in the Stroller, Finnley walking - and trekked up to the terminal.
We sat there another ten or so minutes...
I was really getting anxious, and finally told her I needed to go or I was going to miss my flight. At this point she looked at my ticket, realized I only had 45 minutes until my flight left and said, "ohhhhh, I'm going to need to take you to another ticket counter because I can't fix this." WHAT!?! She loaded up my bags onto a carrier, and took me across the street to the special services desk. At this point our flight was leaving in 35 minutes. The ladies at the desk were chatting and not paying attention to me. Finally I just got angry, "Um, my flight leaves in 35 minutes, I've been here for an hour and a half, and I'm going to miss my flight for no reason!" The lady looked up at me, sauntered over to the lady holding our boarding passes, looked back at me, and then said, "hold on" and slowly walked around the corner.
That was it. That is how I missed my flight to Montana. I was crying, Finnley was crying....it was a big old mess.
Come to find out, when I booked our flights online the card never went through and although I had a confirmation number and seat assignments, I hadn't paid for them so I couldn't board. This was only told to me AFTER I missed my flight, and not while there was time for me to actually remedy the situation and make my existing flight. What a joke. I was so mad.
After paying for the flight (which took a total of five minutes), We were booked on the next flight, which was the next morning. Blast! I was given a room at a nearby hotel and food vouchers. The food vouchers combined, didn't even cover my kids meals at the hotel and to make matters worse, when we finally did make it to Montana....Delta lost my bag.
Why am I writing this? Well, first of all, I'm trying to convince all of you not to fly Delta when possible. Second, I needed to write in a letter of complaint, so why not share my complaints with you. Third, to tell you how my kids saw the silver lining throughout this situation.
After the initial shock that we weren't flying to Montana that day, Finnley got over it and was excited about staying in a hotel. As we walked into our room she proclaimed, "Mom this hotel is gorgeous! Look at how pretty the bathroom is!" It was just your typical hotel, but I loved her enthusiasm. They thought eating out was fun, its one of their favorite things to do, and the free cookies at the front desk didn't hurt their love for the place.
By the time we finally boarded our plane the next day, we were all ready and excited to get to Montana! My kids were AWESOME! They all napped, entertained themselves with colors, play dough, and toys, and made our experience pleasurable. It doesn't hurt that I have an angel baby either.
So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Next up...our annual Montana trip!
Did I mention I hate Delta? Oh, I do.
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